Sesshomaru's Story
by smexysesshomaru
Summary: InuYasha has ended, but questions still remain: What happened to Sesshomaru? Are there any Youkai left that can threaten Japan? How is humankind coping with the Youkai and the constant feudal wars that threaten their very lives? And why, pray tell, aren't there any Youkai left in present times? This is the story of Sesshomaru, Kii, and the changing of an era.
1. Prologue

**Authors Note:** Hey guys, this is my first time writing a fanfiction. I'm nervous and scared, but ready to take the time and write this new adventure. This is the prologue, or basically, an information dump for some background on the original character I'm creating for this story. Take it as you will, but I promise she will not be this Mary-Sue like in later chapters. My intent is to create the perfect realistic character for that one-in-a-million story that will have you believing that Sesshomaru fell for a human, while also allowing you to experience the changing of an era. So no, she will not be unrealistically hot-headed, annoyingly depressed, randomly brilliant at everything she does, or a cheerful fairy girl who makes him see the err in his ways, if that's what the words, "original character" has you thinking.

I have been mulling over this story for months in my head, and I am finally ready to put my fingers to the keyboard. I trust my storytelling will get better in time, so please, give this tale a chance and let me know where you think I can improve! I'll put these notes at the bottom in future chapters. :)

0

Prologue

Dressed in a casual t-shirt and her uniforms navy skirt, Kii was skipping school, and not for the first time. She had just gotten off a crowded train, and was now a half hour walk from home if she moved briskly. She felt sick to her stomach. As the summer months were known to be in Japan, it was hot out, and the smells of hundreds of commuters going to their destinations wafted up into Kii's nose. It was almost as if she was walking through a swimming pool of canned sardines.

Not wanting to spend anymore time than necessary in the crowd, she squeezed her way through as she followed the sea of nameless people leaving the train station. Her cheek stung horribly, and her messenger bag kept assaulting her bruising hip with every step, but she ignored it. She was desperate to get out. She could feel the eyes of the mindless passerby's on her, glimpsing at the colour of her hair and the freckles on her skin, but she ignored that too. It was still early in the day, so the ganguros, the cosplayers, the lolitas, and the likes, had not begun making their rounds around the downtown district yet. Kii knew she stuck out like a sore thumb.

_I only lasted one period this time. _Kii thought to herself as she turned down a narrow alleyway, separating herself from the crowd. _I'm such as wimp. _She bit her lip, her pride stopping her from crying, as she started daydreaming on her walk about somehow becoming another person – someone who knew how to talk back, intimidate, and fight. Her mind thought up several magical scenarios of how she could have shocked or beaten her bullies into submission: She could have had superpowers which in reality she was holding back, or she could have been a ninja, mastering a hidden art. Or maybe she secretly was a spy, and when they hit her she could have accidentally let her strength slip and fling her attacker over her shoulders. Or maybe she was actually someone important, like a princess or the daughter of a wealthy diplomat, and the secret service would have come to her aide, making her classmates feel regret for what they did. Or maybe...

Her thoughts went on and on like this, slowly getting more and more elaborate as she settled on one fantasy and expanded it into a full on scenario. Finally she arrived at her two story, western style house.

"I'm home," she declared quietly, hoping nobody else was around. She took her shoes off, turned on the air conditioning, and made her way to her room. She tip toed as she went just in case someone was still home. She then shut her door to her room, thoughtlessly threw her bag to the side, and then immediately pulled up her shirt in front of the mirror, examining her stomach.

Her belly was covered in bruises, appearing almost like a kindergarteners finger painting, with random blotches of yellow, purple, brown and blue all over the canvas. She stiffed a sob when looking at it, blinked the tears out of her eyes, and then began to inspect the rest of her body. Nothing else was really new, but her pained cheek was still bright red, so she tip toed down to the kitchen and grabbed a packet of ice. Making her way back to her room, she figured that as long as it didn't swell too much, she could cover it up with make up and her parents would never know.

Because she had a very light breakfast that morning, Kii was still feeling a little sick to her stomach from the stench of sweat her nose was assaulted with at the train station. While holding the icepack on her cheek, she laid back on her bed to comfort her stomach, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She grabbed a remote from under her pillow and pressed play, causing upbeat _Disney_ songs she had gotten from Tokyo Disneyland to invade her room. Getting lost in thoughts of self pity, she ensured the volume was low enough so she could hear and delete the phone call her school was bound to make about her absence.

_I hate this. Why is my life so pathetic? _

Kitsuna Yamato, commonly known as Yamato or Kii depending on how well she knew the person, was an absolutely normal girl. Or rather, she would have been had she not lived in Japan.

Her first name, Kitsuna, was not considered a true Japanese name by many of her classmates. Her father, who grew up in Canada, could speak Japanese but had no idea how to write it. So, when choosing her name he put little thought into to its translation onto the written page. He, and her English mother, just so happened to like foxes, (they met in front of the fox pen at a zoo in Edmonton), and being the creative type that they were, decided that if they had a boy, they would name him Kitsune, and if it were a girl, they'd make it feminine by dropping the e and tacking an a on it, calling her Kitsuna. Literally, her name was fox.

It was an absolutely bizarre name. And since her father only knew how to right in Hiragana, she had no beautiful Kanji to go along with it, so right off the bat she was different. By default, as a child, once they learned what her first name was, she was blacklisted for jokes by her immature classmates. If anything bad happened, it was automatically her fault because she was the fox, or rather the trickster. The sneak. The bad guy in all storytelling.

But that is not the full reason why Kitsuna was being bullied. It all boils down to a matter of Kitsuna's nationality. Japan, like most Asian countries, is a country with homogenous population, meaning that nearly everybody living there is Japanese. It was getting better as more and more foreigners started to gain interest in the country, exposing people to new cultures, but for the most part, everybody looked similar to one another. Black hair, almond shaped eyes, creamy brown skin, the works. Kii, however, was of mixed blood. And as ridiculous as it was, she had the honour of somehow inheriting the long lost recessive genes of her mothers Irish side: wild red hair and lots of brown freckles, to go along with her almond shaped eyes and creamy skin. It was a joke of a combination. On bad days she looked like a clown. She did not even look like her mother, or her grandmother. The gene went further back in her family line. Her parents often laugh, saying there was a mix up at the hospital and they got the wrong child.

Still holding her ice pack, Kitsuna grabbed a pillow off her bed and threw it at her mirror in disgust. "They're all so stupid," she muttered under her breath. She used her remote to skip the Disney song, "Reflection," because the irony was making her even more irritated. Even Kii wouldn't call herself pretty on most days, but that did not excuse her classmates behaviour. Because of her differing looks and odd name, she was the constantly at the mercy of her classmates. As a child, it was just name calling along with stupid jokes about how much she looked like a fox. She could deal with that, and was able to make lots of friends by playing the fool. But as she got older and made the mistake of entering an all girls school, things changed.

With hormones running high, and with classes lasting hours and hours on end, what was first awe for being different quickly turned into harassment. The schools strict dress code worked against Kii, as the students were not allowed to dye their hair or express their individuality. With her rare hair colour, Kii was naturally different, and could be so without being punished. Additionally, in order to show how serious the school was about upholding their rule, Kii was not able to dye her hair black. She was the only girl in school to have coloured hair. So, in the way oppressed older, teenagers do, they reacted in the most obvious fashion possible, and decided to retaliate by making Kii an outcast.

When the notes in her locker and pins in her shoes turned into ripped up text books and warnings on the blackboard, Kii's friends began ignoring her. But Kii, in front of the bullies at least, held her quivering head high. However, standing up for herself had the opposite effect than what she intended; the violence began. It started out small and humiliatingly, with older classmates cornering her in the bathrooms and hallways, pulling at her hair and spitting on her. But then unfortunately, when Kii finally fought back, winning her only fight by screaming loudly, kicking the girl in the shin, and running off to the nurses room, all of the sudden it was declared that abusing Kii was the cool thing to do. And the majority of the homogenous, black haired female students made the red haired girl their target, leaving Kii with absences from school, bruises and mental scars.

_I hate them all,_ Kii thought, grabbing another pillow and throwing it at the mirror. The action of moving her arm stretched her stomach, causing pain from the collage of bruises to ripple down her navel.

"God dammit! I hate them! I fucking hate them!" She yelled with frustrated tears. She hated her school, and she hated her classmates. She hated her teachers, who did nothing about it except say, "that's how kids are," with a slap on the wrist and extra homework that got the bullies angrier. And most of all hated herself for hating the people she once called friends. Kii wasn't dumb. In a school where teenage girls are kept together for hours and hours on end, with no way to be themselves, Kii's unusual looks stood out. Someone in every school run as stringently as this had to be the bullied outcast, and out of the 500 students at hers, she had been born with the short stick.

And she hated everything about it.


	2. Chapter 1 - Deeds of the Great Shippo

1

Deeds of the Great Shippo

Kii held her bowl up high over the table, food stuffed in her cheeks. "More rice!"

Her mother, sitting across from her, still in her apron, made a face. "At least say please," she chided. But she reached into the rice cooker and filled up the bowl all the same.

"Can't help it, I'm hungry!"

Her father, at the head of the table, pipped in, "If Kii is this big of an eater, I wonder how crazy the little one is going to be?" He reached over and rubbed his wife's round stomach, probably hoping to feel a kick. Kii looked away awkwardly as her parents started to blush and giggle. She didn't want to think about how the child got in her mothers stomach, but after having her sexual education class, her unborn sibling was a constant, unpleasant reminder.

Kii gobbled down her rice in silence once again, ignoring the pain in her cheek and stomach. Her parents chattered away happily amongst themselves. They had been trying for years to have another child, so this one was a miracle in their eyes. Her parents seemed to glow with a new found youth that Kii had never seen, so as happy as she was for them, and for her new sibling, she still felt uncomfortable being around them. Seeing them act like they just started dating made her think of how they even were attracted to each other in the first place.

Peaking upwards from her bowl, Kii dutifully noted that despite her pregnancy pounds, her mother still looked beautiful, with her tall stature, long brown hair, white skin and brown eyes. It was a wonder that her father's short and stocky Asian figure had managed to catch her, but Kii guessed that her mom was into foreign guys. She smiled, remembering some of the stories her parents had told her about their younger days, and then she turned her eyes to her bowl, carelessly picking apart clumps of rice to mix with her chicken. She didn't notice her mother's observant eyes on her until it was too late.

"Kii," her mother asked, "Are you wearing makeup?"

Kii choked on her rice, and had to put down her bowl and chopsticks before answering cautiously, "Maybe?"

Her mother made a face, ruining the innocent mood in the room. "When you're done eating, go wash it off."

"But-"

"No buts Kitsuna. You're beautiful just the way you are. You don't need to focus on impressing boys now, wait for college. And you only put it on one side of your face, for heavens sakes. If you're going to use foundation, you've got to cover up all your freckles to make it even. Not just the one side."

Kii stammered, blushed, pouted and then, as she thought about the circumstances that led to her needing the make up in the first place, tried to hold back tears. The cheerful mood she had spent the day alone trying to fake was fading. She had applied the makeup for her parents sake, to cover up her swelling, but now that was not even good enough.

She stared her mother in the eye, feeling tears of shame threaten to fall over, "What if I say no?"

"Kitsuna, you heard me." The kitchen table made a squeaking noise as her mother leaned forward, pushing it with her oversized belly. Kii leaned forward out of her chair as well, hating confrontation but feeling the blood rush to her head. The argument was stupid, but she didn't want to deal with her parents finding out about the swelling by removing the makeup. She couldn't bear the shame if her parents knew what was happening at school.

"Well, I'm saying no!"

Her dad stopped eating. Kii watched his eyes dart awkwardly between mother and herself through her peripheral vision."Kii, honey, listen to your mother."

Her mothers light brown eyes narrowed as she examined at Kii's face, getting a better look at it as they both leaned in. "Kitsu... Kii. Kii, is your face swollen?"

Kii jerked her body up, her shins knocking into her chair over. The room went silent as the chair hit the floor. Seconds went by before her mom spoke up.

"Is-Is there something goi-"

"I'm going out," Kii said, cutting her mom off. The idea of having to explain her circumstances to her family made butterflies go ballistic in her stomach, giving her the instinctual urge she had cultivated from school to flee. Quickly, she ignored her parents demands for her to return, and nearly ran to the front door. She slipped on her brown shoes in seconds and left the house. Her dinner sat on the table half eaten.

...

Shippo's involuntary sighs seemed incessant as he chased after the short, black haired child. As an adult now, Shippo grew tall enough for his head to reach Kagome's waist if he stretched on his tip-toes. His face was less round, and much like full yokai, he was perpetually stuck with the appearance of an eighteen year old, albeit extremely short. Passing his fox magic exam, he was older, wiser and much more competent than when he was searching for the Shikon Jewel Shard. Shippo figured that much, at least, would render him capable of being selected for more important work amongst his friends. _So why..._

"Oh please, Shippo! Please! They won't stop fighting! You're the great Shippo! You must know of a way to keep them together!"

Shippo sighed again as he remembered how Kenta, the youngest of Kagome's children, stared face to face with Shippo with wide, watery eyes, whining for Shippo to find a solution for his parent's marital problems.

Shippo had tried everything. He went from his playful fox magic, to some more advanced spells. From chiding and promises that the fighting was a normal part of healthy marriages, to serious distractions which included telling embarrassing stories from the times of old when Naraku threatened the world. But still, nothing helped. The child could not be deterred or distracted without some sort of promise. At that point Shippo, no longer able to maintain his usual positive self, was at his wits end, concluding that he had no other choice but to tell some grandiose lie that'd ensure the child would believe that Kagome and InuYasha would stay together forever.

Now Shippo, chasing after the child, who ran into his parent's shed with a strand of silver hair in hand, was regretting his decision. _Why can't Kagome and InuYasha behave like responsible parents in front of their children?_

"Shippo! Hurry!"

"I'm coming! Slow down or you'll trip!"

As Shippo entered the storage room, he watched as Kenta propped up a wooden window to shed light into the dim space. Small and completely laden with shelves filled with demonic and spiritual items Kagome had collected or sealed over the years, the room was carefully arranged with everything in it's own place. There was just enough room for Shippo and Kenta to enter and move around while avoiding the spiderwebs and bugs which made their home in the walls.

"Wow, Kagome sure has gathered a lot of stuff! I haven't been here in ages." Shippo mused.

Kenta ignored him, and started searching the shelving with his eyes. "Mama showed me the stuff she brought back from her country when I was little... I think I remember seeing a comb in there!" He pointed up to a small, metal chest which stood conveniently on the top shelf in the room. And then being the brilliant six year old that he was, started the climb the shelves that seemed to barely be able to support the boxes and scrolls laying on them. Shippo pulled him back.

"Kenta, no, I'll get it." Shippo said. _Honestly, the kid looks like his mother but acts like his idiot father. I'm lucky though, if he grows any taller, I wouldn't be able to stop him. That'd be reason enough to end this babysitting job. _Shippo clapped his hand."Stand back Kenta! Be ready to catch it."

With a quiet popping noise, Shippo used his magic and transformed into a tiny pink balloon, floating high enough to get behind the chest and push it over the ledge.

With a, "Wow Shippo! You're amazing," Kenta caught the chest and opened it, rustling around to pull out a small plastic black comb. Shippo transformed back and landed down beside Kenta. He watched as the child pulled off a strand of hair from the object. It was dark in the room, but when Kenta pulled the hair off the comb he knew immediately that it wasn't Kagome's. It was closer to Shippo's hair colour, but too long to be his own. Kenta didn't notice. He looked straight into Shippo's eyes with an excited look on his face. "I got the hair, Shippo! Now what?!"

Shippo sighed for the umpteenth time. _Now what do I say? _"Uhh, twist the two strands of hair together and repeat after me."

The boy took the two strands of hair, one silver and one red, and twisted the hair together by rubbing the palms of his hands. He stared expectantly back at Shippo. Shippo felt the sweat drop down his back as he struggled for words.

_What should I say?! Uhhh... _"Now as the two strands become one..."

"Nooow as the twooo strands become oneeee...!" Kenta echoed excitedly, trying his best to sound like a monk like Miroku. He had closed his eyes and held the hair between his palms, as if praying. He was so enthusiastic. Holding back a snicker, Shippo almost broke down laughing from hearing Kenta's earnest voice, and had to stop himself from telling Kenta it was all a lie. This was so elaborate. But what's he going to say to the boy the next time his parent's argue? He stopped snickering, gulped and continued.

"So too..."

"So toooo...!"

"Do the bodie-I mean the lover's soul..."

"Dooo the bodieeee-I mean the lover'sss soullll..."

"T-to share and understand each others pain..."

"T-tooo shareeee and understannnnnd each otherssss painnn...!"

"So that they can never fight in a way that will cause each other ham, I mean harm!..."

"Sooo that they can neverrrr fight in a waaay that will cause each otherrrr hammmmm, I meannn harrrmmmmm!...!"

"So even when they are se-separated, they will always be together!" Shippo finished. That sounded like a good ending

"Sooooo even when they are seeeee-seeeeparated, theywillaaaaalwaysbetoooogeeeetherrrrr."

"That's the end of it Kenta!"

Kenta opened his eyes and smiled at Shippo. "You mean they will be together forever?!"

Shippo nodded. He wasn't pleased that he had just deliberately lied to an six year old, but it worked. He wouldn't have to deal with the child's whining for the rest of his babysitting job today. However the hair in Kenta's hands, which was so obviously not Kagome's, seemed to chastise him, evidence of his wrong doing. His guilty eyes seemed to be playing tricks on him, because the silver one started to look un-InuYasha like as well. What if Kenta noticed?

"Kenta, give me the hair."

Kenta placed the twisted up strands of hair into his hands. Thinking quickly, Shippo closed his eyes and whispered "Fox fire!" causing a small green orb of light to appear in Shippo's hands, burning the evidence.

_Thank god that's over_, he thought. And then suddenly the thought struck him: What calamity will befall him once InuYasha and Kagome fought again and Kenta learns that he was tricked. He'll definitely tell InuYasha. Shippo groaned. _Why is it always me?_

_..._

Adrenalin pumping, Kii ran two blocks up the narrow streets while trying to get comfortable in her shoes. She needed to get away from her parents if they decided to give chase. But in no time, she was out of breath and had to settle down into a walk while her unfit body struggled for air. Her stomach ached from the bruising she had received from her classmates. She had her school's navy skirt and heavy blazer on, adorned to give her parents the illusion that she had just returned from school, and was starting to feel hot from the summer evenings heat.

_Why didn't I take the time to put it on properly? _Kii thought, _If only I did it properly, instead of lazing around, she wouldn't have noticed. I should have been more careful. I'm such an idiot. _

Being past dinner time, the streets in the residential district were relatively empty, and due to the walls around every ones home, Kii didn't have to worry about anybody seeing her from their houses. After getting far enough away from home to clear her head, she stopped walking. She waited as water cluster in her eyes for a moment, and then wiped them out. She then slapped her face with both hands to pull herself together.

_I'm so pathetic right now. But I can get through this! I can do it alone. My parents don't need to know. _

She felt for her red hair and found that it had become disheveled on her run. She tied it in a bun with the elastic she had around her wrist, and then tried to rub the makeup off her cheek.

_ It could be worse, Kii. Cheer up! Focus! _She continued to rub the makeup off her sore cheek and then put the brightest smile on her face she could muster. The pressure of everything going wrong with her life tightened around her heart, making it feel hollow, but she ignored it and continued walking through the streets, taking the long way round back to her house. Regrettably, she had no friends to run to if she really wanted to leave her home, and she was missing the air conditioning in her house.

_ Focus, Kii. First things first. I've got to make up some story about my cheek. They're not going to believe just anything with the way I ran out like that. I can do this. Just stay focused. I can do this._

_..._

For all intents and purposes, Lord Sesshomaru was a very stoic man. It wouldn't be too far off to say that while he felt emotions, he didn't understand the point of them at all. They were ever changing and irrational, and because they refused to maintain a constant state, he chose to ignore them and instead live with a rational, calm view on life. Unlike most creatures, the Lord was able to re-prioritize and ignore what was unnecessary, making him able to remain logical and calm in nearly all situations.

So as Rin's son, Munto, followed Sesshomaru around, babbling on and on about how happy and sad and frustrated and confused he was in all sorts of situations, Sesshomaru had no idea what to do with the child other than completely ignore him. After all, he had only come to Rin's humble wooden home in order to ensure she was still doing well. That, and he had brought new clothing for her and her two children in order to help ease her burden. But Rin was asleep, Kohaku was off on a demon slaying mission, and Jaken was taking Rin's other child off to catch some food. So Lord Sesshomaru was left to just slowly walk away, with the chattering child, who would have otherwise disturbed Rin, following behind him. All in all, a very annoying experience.

Unlike Rin, Munto did not shut up when asked. By the time he had walked out of the village and was in front of the forest of InuYasha, Lord Sesshomaru heard all about Rin and Kohaku's parenting styles, why Munto and his sister Yuna hated InuYasha this time, how much trouble Munto got in when he touched Kohaku's weapons, what Munto had for breakfast, and how fantastic the sky looked when it rained yesterday. Throughout the walk, Sesshomaru's responses varied from silence with no eye contact to silence with no eye contact and an increased speed in his pace. But still, Munto talked away, ignoring the snot that was falling out of his small, button nose.

Even when the Lord entered the forest of InuYasha to leave, Munto continued on with his simplistic stories. The child knew his boundaries and did not follow Sesshomaru into the forest of InuYasha once the Lord entered, but just continued babbling louder at the edge of the forest. It wasn't until Sesshomaru was nearly out of sight that he finished off his story about how he managed to catch a fish, and then happily yelled good bye.

The youkai Lord could not even fathom what was going on in that child's head.

Once he had heard the child run back, Sesshomaru began to depart at a quicker pace, trusting Jaken would find him. He walked for an hour, watching the dew fall from the pine trees around him, and listening to the distant sounds of the river and birds, while reviewing various battle techniques in his head. Then, suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.

He sensed something, but could not determine what it was. It wasn't demonic energy, nor was it spiritual, but it was surrounding him from a distance, getting closer. His mind replayed various experiences he had in other energy enriched fights and he prepared himself, ready to confront his opponent. But as the energy got closer and closer to him, surrounding him like a ring from all angles, he realized that the energy he was feeling had no presence. Trees did not move. The air remained stagnant, and the creatures of the forest made no effort to hide.

He put a hand on one of his blades, sensing as the ring of energy continued to quickly close in. He realized what is was. _Someone dare curses me? _

He couldn't see it at all, but as he jumped up at an impossibly fast speed to avoid it, he felt the ring of energy follow him at an alarming rate. Despite his speed, it reached him, surrounded him, engulfed him, and finally disappeared within him. Sesshomaru landed back on the ground, mind still calculating, ready for whatever would happen next.

Nothing happened.

Sesshomaru stood there as seconds passed, slightly confused. If it truly was a curse, he could no longer sense it. The was no lingering presence. It was almost as if the energy never appeared in the first place. And unlike usual, none of his swords pulsated with an answer. He tried another method.

His face, normally picturesque and symmetric, baring the markings of noble lineage with a crescent moon on his forehead and magenta striped on his cheeks, began to morph and stretch into a more feral, canine form. His eye widened and glowed red and blood vessels popped from the pressure he was creating. His long silver hair flew up as the energy he was exerting began to take on a physical form. He could feel the creatures and demons in the forest run from his presence. But still, even after exerting his energy to dispel the attack, nothing happened. So he stopped himself before he made a full transformation.

He was confused. No other living creature seemed to have been affected by this formless energy. Not even the demonic birds which normally fly at the slightest disturbance, the mortal creatures which survive solely on survival instinct, or even the trees seemed to have been affected.

_Perhaps I imagined it... No, I, Lord Sesshomaru, am not such a lowly creature as one who would invent an attack on myself. What could it have be- _

His thoughts paused as his body sensed something.

And then his cheek began to hurt.

And then his stomach began to ache.

And then, for the first time in decades, Lord Sesshomaru began to feel afraid.

...

...

...

...

**Author's Note: **Oh my good lord, Sesshomaru's part was a pain to make. I figured that I would write this story in a narrative format, so I decided that I would write about Sesshomaru using the serious tone Sesshomaru is known to have. I said to myself, "It'd be silly if Sesshomaru thought and saw the world the same way as Kii did," so I went for a more essay-like approach for his narrative. My mistake. Kii's was a cinch to make. Shippo? Well, he's a little OOC but he's just plot fodder. Sesshomaru on the other hand? Bleeeeh. If you guys think that was boring, let me know and I'll try a different method next time.

To be honest, as amazing as Sesshomaru is, when you get right down to it, he's kind of boring. As far as we know, all he does, really, is walk around Japan, probably wipe out any threats on his territory, and search for ways to hone his skills. That, and step on Jaken and care of Rin. For a 500 and something year old man, he must be a profound thinker, but I just can't see it! It's so hard to imagine how he thinks! ARGH!

...Maybe I should use my omnipotent powers as this story's God to fix that? :D


	3. Chapter 2 - A Whole New World

2

A Whole New World

There were no words to explain how Kii was feeling at the moment. A second ago, she was in the middle of the streets of Japan, slowly making her way back to her house. It was night. It was hot. And Kii was dreading going home. And now?

Warm sunlight beamed it's way into her face. Kii blinked and squinted as she tried to get her bearings. Instead of the starry, moon-lit sky she was getting lost in as she made her way home, the sky was blue, the deepest blue Kii had ever seen the sky. Her heart was pounding.

She felt a cold breeze blow against her exposed legs. She glanced down and found that instead of cement, she was standing on sprouts of grass and soft gravel. Kii looked back up. The smell of fires just recently put out wafted around her, and makeshift, almost medieval tents were being taken down. Men, looking like they were in some feudal war movie, moved around her in the seconds she stared at them, as if getting ready to start another morning of battle.

_Where... where am I? _

The hordes of men, dressed like ancient soldiers, didn't seem to notice her. Some of them were sitting in circles by tattered flags representing their allegiance, eating some sort of brown gruel; some of them holding poles that once supported their patched up leather tents; some of them by wooden barrels of water, their hands holding a dirty pink cloth, which looked to be wiping off a red substance off of their swords; some of them stood off in the distance, relieving themselves of their midnight ale; and some of them were in mid-stretch, looking as if they were about to go off on a morning jog.

Kii stood silently, something telling her that it's best that they don't notice her. A feeling of panic started to overwhelm her.

A crow flew overhead. It crow cawed, and warily, Kii's eyes glanced up into the sunlight, following it. Another crow zoomed overhead. It carried half of a mouse in it's mouth. The tail of the mouse, precariously hanging by a sliver of skin, broke off. Her eyes followed it, as it hit a soldiers head with a soft thud.

Kii screamed.

Almost instantaneously, the men sprang into action. They noticed her. Swords were drawn, and seconds later arrows from a distance were pointed straight into Kii's face. It was as if the men were all ready for action at any given moment. She could hear the voices of the men who were running over to her, talking loudly in confusion:

"Is she a siren? - Kill her!- She seems weak, she must be a distrac - W-we just fought yesterday, we're supposed to go ho – No, idiot, if you kill her, stronger reinforcements may come- Coward! do you know who your in the presence of – Silence your fea - What's one puny demon going to do? – We can take her! - Why now!? - Kill her!"

A voice boomed over their talking, "Silence!" The men stopped arguing and straightened their defences. In seconds, they were surrounding her. Kii bit her lip hard to stop herself from screaming again, "What is it that you want, demon?"

It took her a moment to form words in her mouth, "Wh-where am I...? Wh-who are you?"

The soldiers were surrounding her, all in rank with the smallest in front, holding sharp swords out. They were dressed in beige and brown colours, and had leather plates of armour all over their heads, arms and legs, with metal breastplates over their chests. Glancing past the men in front of her, she could see men in the distance, with arrows drawn in her direction.

She gulped. "A-am I interrupting a movie shoot? If so, I'm sorry. I-I'll leave now. Y-you all have great costumes."

She took a step back and made to turn, but as she did so she felt something whizz past her face. A second later, her face stung and began to feel warm. She reached up and felt for her already bruised cheek. It felt moist. She pulled her hand away and looked at her fingers. They were red.

Kii looked at the people in front of her and unconsciously smiled as her emotions tried to sort themselves out. The men were so close that she could smell their rank breath coming from their dirty faces. Their swords were so close that she could see the sharpness of their blades. It was so surreal, her mind went blank.

"I won't ask again demon," The booming voice spat. Kii was so frazzled she couldn't tell where it was coming from. "What is it that you want?"

"Haha, I promise I won't tell anybody about the film," she babbled, her face plastered with a grin. She had no idea what she was doing. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her iPod. "See, there's no camera attached to my iPod. Just music. I won't take any photos. Your secret is safe with me. Haha. Ha. L-look. I don't even have a voice recorder on here. Just music. Want to listen? You can have it if you want. The speakers are pretty good. It's just music" She fumbled with the iPod in her hands, turning it on. "Haha, I got b-blood on it. Whoops. No worries, it's pretty much water proof. Just got to rub it off." She rubbed it off, smiling desperately,"You know, it's funny. It was dark outside a second ago, and now it's light outside. Like the sun d-decided to come up again... Oh l-look. It's on. Here. Do you guys like Utada Hikaru? I know the song is pretty old, but-"

She pressed play and the song, _Passion_, started blasting out. It was so shockingly loud that Kii dropped the iPod. Quickly, she bent down to pick it up, and as she did so, arrows flew over her head. Kii heard them pierce the wind as they passed over top of her. Her whole body was shaking. Rocks from the ground were burrowing themselves into her exposed legs, but she ignored it. She put all her energy into turning the music off, so not to startle the people in front of her anymore. Focusing on keeping calm, she placed her iPod back into her pocket.

"Haha, s-sorry about that. I-it was a bit too loud. M-my headphones were in so I wa-wasn't sure how loud it was going to be. Haha. I can be so silly sometimes."

She tried to stand up again, but felt something sharp poking her neck. Kii's eyes widened as she lost the energy to move. She could hear the men screaming about her being a demon and to kill her immediately. Once again someone's voice boomed, "Silence! Did I say you could kill her?!" and the crowd silenced.

Somebody walked up to her, she could see his leather boots covered in dirt right in front of her.

_I\m going to die. Am I going to die? I don't even know what's going on! I'm going to die. Please don't kill me. I don't want to die. Where am I?_

"P-please don't kill me," Kii whimpered out. "My family isn't very rich, bu-

"Hmmph! You are weak." Suddenly, her hair was being yanked up and she was staring into the face of a short, stocky, unshaven man. His breath stank, he was missing parts of his browning teeth, his skin was scarred and uneven, and his beard was so bushy that Kii could see bits of rotting food tangled in it. It was comical how unfortunate he looked, like a homeless man off the street. But the coldness of the mans eyes told her that he could kill her at anytime he saw fit.

He examined her face, gripping her jaw with his free hand. He twisted her face to the sides, digging into her bleeding cheek with his dirty thumb. Kii was unwillingly crying, trying hard not to sob. She had to stop herself from trying to push him off.

_I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die._

"You are so weak_. _Or is this a trick? How is it that you managed to sneak into my camp, demon?"

"I-I-I-"

He tightened his grip on her face, squeezing her so hard she thought she would break. She started sobbing.

_I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die._

"Are you a halfling?" He asked. He spat into her face as he boomed. He was so loud. "You are no human, with this hair of yours. Are you a decoy? Why is it that you tremble and don't fight back?And that power! Were you summoning your kinsmen with that music of yours? "

"Boss, k-kill her before she brings others."

He let go of her. Kii fell to her knees, shell-shocked.

"I SAID SILENCE!" He screamed. Kii watched as he grabbed the sword from his side, marched up to a tall, dirty soldier who towered over him, and cut off his neck in one fell swoop. Kii watched as his blood splattered out of his body like a fountain of water. His body fell to the green grass beneath him, blood sloshing out, dying the ground red. She could not believe it was real. The mans head rolled close to Kii, staring at her, wide eyed. She stared back at it. She began to feel vomit make it's way up her throat.

"Tie her up," the boss ordered. "Use her as bait to draw out the demons. She is dangerous with that power of hers, but she bleeds easily so you can kill her if she tries something funny." His eyes turned back to Kii, but Kii was too busy staring at the head on the ground to notice. "I know not how you got into my camp, demon. But all those in your clan shall perish. Mark my words." He eyed her up and down, eyes lingering on her exposed legs, "And should they not come by nightfall," he licked his lips, "Well, if you were a proper women you wouldn't dress so indecently."

And suddenly, arms were wrapped around Kii's, pulling her hands behind her back and tying her up, blindfolding and gagging her.


	4. Chapter 3 - Against the Odds

3

Against the Odds

Blindfolded, tied up and gagged, Kii stood struggling not to fall asleep. Adrenalin could only take her so far, and after what seemed like hours on end of complete darkness, her fear was giving way to exhaustion. As far as she knew, it was around eight o'clock when she ran away from home. And when she ended up here, wherever here was, it appeared to be mid morning. Now, based off of the cold air that was blowing on her skin, and the loss of the sun's warmth, she figured it was nearing the late afternoon.

_I'm so tired..._

Her feet and legs ached. She was being forced to stand, with no opportunity to move. She tried to run once, but one of the men who was guarding her screamed, and her arm felt the sharp, cold pain of a well sharpened blade. He yelled insult and threats at her, kicked her a couple times, and then he dragged her off somewhere. Now she was bound to something that felt like a tree trunk.

_I... can't fall asleep. It's almost nighttime. He's gonna rap-NO! No I can't. Don't think about it. Stay awake. Think of way out of this. _

Occasionally, throughout the day, she had slipped in and out of consciousness. Every time she did, the head of that dead man stared back at her, glaring at her as his body fell to the floor. She could almost smell the iron scent of the blood spilling out of his body. It poured out like a squeezed juice box. His eyes seemed to say, "How could you do this to me?!" The image kept jolting her awake.

_Okay think Kii, think. Go over it again. What do you know? It was dark out and then it was morning, and I ended up in an unfamiliar place. The only thing I can think of is that I was drugged, and someone dropped me off here. But I don't get it..., if I was unconscious I should me more rested than I am now. And why am I here? These people didn't seem to even notice me till I screamed. I don't get it, is someone watching me...? There's no way this is TV, since I actually got hurt. _

Kii wiggled her eyebrows in frustration, trying to stay awake. _They haven't searched my pockets, so they don't care what's in them. Which means that they don't care if I use my cell phone, so I must be in an out-of-service area. But they way they reacted to my iPod..., and what was it that guy said? "That power," or something... It was like they didn't know what an iPod was for. And why are these guys using swords and arrows? Aren't... aren't guns better for this sort of thing? And why are they dressed that way? Are they some religious group isolated from society?_

_But...I don't get it. What does it all mean? I can't make sense of anything, I'm too tired for this. Am I going to die without making up with my mom? Without seeing my baby bother? Ugh, I just want to sleep. _

She slammed her head into the trunk and felt her head rattle, not for the first time. It hurt but it worked. She was more awake.

_I must stay awake. I must. What does it mean?_ _Why are they dressed like that?_

"You keep doing that and you're going to die, demon."

Kii's head snapped around into the direction of the voice. Her heart started racing, to the point where she could hear the blood pumping in her ears. She couldn't see him, but she knew it was the booming voice of the man that killed that soldier. She let out a tiny, muffled scream.

_It not night is it?! No. No it's not! It can't be! _She started struggling with the ropes behind her back, which bound her round the tree.

"For some reason..." he started. Kii could hear the crunch of his footsteps coming towards her direction. The sound stopped right in front of her, "For some reason, nobody is coming to get you demon. Now why is that? Did you truly come alone? Have my men and I wasted an entire day on you?" He clicked his tongue in annoyance. "I know all my soldiers were so desperate to return to their villages, and it has angered them that they had to spend another day here,"

She felt his hand graze across the cut on her cheek, and then grab a lock of hair had fallen out of her mess of a hair bun. His voice changed, playfully,"Why, I had to stop several of them from killing you on the spot! I'm sure you overhead. They were so disappointed, but I am a man that honours my promises. And it's safe to say that you owe one me now, wouldn't you agree?"

As a matter of fact, she had heard him advocate for her. The men were begging him to either let them kill her or let her go. He yelled back at them that she would be dead by sunrise, and that any person who argued further would be killed on the spot. She did not hear a single complaint or mention of her being tied up here after that. In fact, the whole camp was silent. They were probably more scared of dying by their leaders hands then of hers. Now, Kii knew, this man was coming to her to rape her. That, or kill her. He probably did not have the patience to wait till sunset.

_I'd rather die!_

She felt something cold and moist sloppily touch her forehead, along with the prickly feeling of a beard. Despite her exhaustion, Kii shuddered violently and tried to lean away as far as she could. She began screaming as loudly as she could into the cloth stuffed in her mouth.

"You're a feisty little wench, aren't you? Quite ugly too." She felt his hand stroke her cheek. He was blowing his rank hot breath into her face into her face, which she had no choice but to breathe in through her nose. "For someone who looks so unappealing, why is it that your skin is so soft? You dress like a slut, but it's like you've never once worked for your meals. But you know..., I could fix that for you." He stopped stroking her cheek, but his breathing was now laboured, smothering her face with the stench.

Kii twisted her face away from him, struggling to get away from the smell. Her stomach felt woozy from the stress, stench and fear. Seconds later, she threw up into her mouth and, because there was cloth stuffed into her mouth, she started choking.

It was another couple of seconds before the man realized what had happened.

"Shit!"

Suddenly her mouth gag came off, followed by her blindfold, and a moment later, the ropes that bound her to the tree. Kitsuna fell to the ground, vomiting and coughing uncontrollably. Once she got her bearings, she purposely vomited all over her clothing, hoping it would turn the man off. She wanted to look as unappealing as possible.

After what felt to be too short of a period of time, her stomach felt empty, but she continued retching, trying to keep him away. She cautiously peeked up and saw he was stepping back, sword in hand, giving her an utterly disgusted glare. Thinking fast, having nothing to let to vomit, she started violently coughing up saliva.

He clicked his tongue in anger,"What a disgraceful wo-"

"BOSS!"

Both Kii and the mans head whipped into the direction of the new voice. It sounded desperate. A soldier, a small, hairy man who looked like he was in the middle of getting changed into more comfortable clothing for the evening, frantically ran over.

"BOSS! IT'S THE BIRDS OF PARADISE!"

Kii's captor did not miss a beat and ran over toward the man, screaming, "WHAT?! WHY DIDN'T OUR SCOUTS NOTIFY ME SOONER!? HOW FAR AWAY ARE THEY?!"

"THEY'RE HERE!"

Screams overcome with the sound of absolute horror from the soldiers in the camp followed, but Kii didn't stay to listen. She got up and ran in the opposite direction the moment the men took their eyes off her. She desperately prayed they did not notice. It seemed like all the guards who were watching her left when their boss came to have his way with her.

_Run! Keep running! Run!_

She ran into a forest, running in zig zags in case arrows were shot at her. Kii was never a fit person to begin with, and was so tired, but still she ran. Listening to the distant screams of agony, she ignored about the painful cramps of dehydration she was experiencing in her side, her lung's pitiful, desperate cry for oxygen, and the heavy lead-like feeling that was dragging her extremetiies down. She just ran at full speed. And when she could not run any further, she continued to walk as fast as possible, using the trees surrounding her as support.

...

Kii did not know how long she ran for. The sun had sank, and the stars were out. After having drunk some water from a pond she came upon and throwing it up immediately afterwards, she collapsed between a bed of bushes, not even caring about the bugs that made their home under where she fell.

She dimmed her cell phone screen and tried call her house and the police on her cell-phone, but got no signal. She sent a text to every contact she had, hoping it would automatically send once she got in-range of a satellite.

Kii shivered. With no way to warm herself up, she was freezing under the night sky. She was so scared that her body would not let her fall asleep. She ended up sticking her ear buds into one ear and turning on her iPod. Eventually, she fell into a very light sleep.

...

"Well, what the hell happened here?" A slightly annoyed voice asked. Draped in red and purple cloth respectively, InuYasha and Miroku stared out at what seemed to be a one sided battle. Three Birds of Paradise laid dead, next to nearly a hundred human corpses.

"A massacre is what it looks like." Miroku said, raising his hands in a prayer of respect, "Come, let us bury these men and pray for their safe journey to the after world."

InuYasha's face twitched in irritation. "Look Miroku, I didn't come along out here with you just to bury some pathetic humans. I came to hunt some demons. And I ain't wastin' my time doing these stupid monk rituals of yers!"

Miroku sighed, "After all these years, I still don't know what Kagome sees in you." Ignoring InuYasha's complaints, Miroku started around the camp for something to use as a shovel. He knew that his old friend was just putting up a front, and would end up helping out eventually.

The camp they stumbled upon was covered in blood, desecrated bodies, and the misty haze of smoke from a fire not long burnt out fire. Miroku lifted his purple robe up to cover his face, cursing himself for forgetting to bring along the gas mask Sango had given him. He began exploring the area.

_I don't sense any demons lingering around here at all. Or any signs of human life for that matter. For what purpose are these demons attacking all these military camps for? Not a single person here seemed to be a threat to the birds, and none of them were eaten for food. This is the third massacre we've come across this year. _

Finding a shovel which he suspected was used for making latrines, Miroku walked over to what looked like a clearing. There was nothing in the area except for some ropes and vomit. It was the perfect place to make some graves.

"InuYasha, start digging over here!" He yelled out. He waited for the sound of InuYasha's grumbling, and then began digging a hole.

The half demon walked over to monk and began to quickly claw out dirt from the ground, using his fingers to pierce the soft earth beneath him. Miroku continued working earnestly, and then stopped, seeing that InuYasha had finished three holes before he even finished one. Instead he got up, and started walking towards the bodies with the intent of dragging them to the graves.

Almost randomly, InuYasha stopped digging and started sniffing the air.

"Something smells like ninja food," he mindlessly said, nostalgically. He got on all fours and started sniffing the ground. Memories of ramen started flooding into his mind, and drool fell from his mouth.

Following the scent, he spotted something blue on the ground in front of him. He leaped over to it and picked up a plastic wrapper. Traces of chocolate were on it. He started at it curiously.

"InuYasha!" Miroku yelled out, seeing the half demon slack off. "Help me out here. The faster we get this done, the faster we can continue on our journey... Mmm? What's that you got there?"

He dropped the body he was dragging across the war-stained grass, walked over to InuYasha and grabbed the wrapper.

"Hey! That's mine!"

"This looks strangely like the food Kagome used to bring back from her world." He commented, avoiding InuYasha's reach as he examined it. "But that's weird. I thought she was unable to return."

"Yeah well," InuYasha said through his teeth, annoyed, "If you give me it back, I'll ask her about it." He lunged for it, but Miroku easily dogged him, knowing his friend's attack patterns by heart.

"No. That'll take too long, and Kagome hasn't travelled in months. The food on here looks fresh." He licked his finger and then swiped it across the wrapper. Placing the finger back in his mouth, he closed his eyes, fondly remembering the taste of Kagome's home countries food. He recalled what this was called. Chocolate.

"HEY!"

Miroku handed the wrapper back to him. "Here, try smelling it. If you follow the scent, we can find who owns this."

"I was just about to do that! And if you hadn't gotten your greedy hands all over it, it would've been easier to track it!" Pouting, InuYasha sniffed the blue wrapper. He also purposely scratched some of the chocolate bits off under his fingernail, so that he could try some later when Miroku was not looking.

In seconds, he had his nose to the ground, following the faint scent that went straight into the forest.

...

...

...

**AN: **Woo! I got a review. I don't understand how to reply to them yet, but that made me happy enough to set aside my homework and write this! :) More to come soon I hope. I've got a LOT of assignments coming up and they have first priority.


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